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Putin: Opposition spurred violence

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says the opposition provoked police violence during mass protests in Moscow last summer, with the sole aim of showing “what kind of heroes they are and that they will protect the interests of citizens with the same zeal if they get into power.”

In an interview with the state-run Tass news agency, another segment of which was released today, Putin said the protesters blocked traffic in order to “provoke security forces to swing their batons.”

“If people are acting within the existing rules and laws, who’s going to swing the baton? On the contrary, (the police) would protect them,” Putin said.

A series of protests in Moscow this summer were sparked by authorities’ refusal to register a dozen opposition and independent candidates for September’s city council vote. They attracted crowds of up to 60,000, the largest show of discontent against Putin’s rule in seven years.

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